media art
4to14: the Interactive Elevator
4to14 is an idea under development, designed to add visual stimulation and engagement to an elevator ride. For the most part, the ride in an elevator (or lift) is a somewhat disengaging experience. A person feels the movement of the elevator car, going up, or going down, but that person has no visual cues as to the movement or speed of the car, other than the floor indicator itself (often with good reason, given the rate of travel of some of the highest speed office elevators).
But what if certain visual stimuli could be introduced into the experience of an elevator ride? Stimuli that don't necessarily have to reflect or reproduce the outside world (though they could), but visual elements and forms that change, morph and re-form in direct, real-time response to not only the movement of elevator car, but also its position in the building.
This concept envisions the inside walls of an elevator car becoming fully dynamic floor-to-ceiling, edge-to-edge graphic 'screens', displaying a series of computer-generated imagery that changes and responds to the movement and position of the elevator in real-time. Further, these real-time elements could also respond to other stimuli inside or around the elevator car. Sensors measure temperature inside the car, or the number of people entering or leaving the car, and use this data to further affect the visual elements playing out on the walls.
View a Flash demo of 4to14: the Interactive Elevator
I am actively seeking partners to help realise this project, as building anything like this into an elevator car is going to need the expertise of a qualified lift engineer to assess the technical and safety implications. If you can help, please let me know.